Those are her first words? No hello?
Summer’s eyes blaze open, and a thin line draws on her lips that are a shade of pink with a glaze of lip balm. Realizing that I’m glancing at her lips, I snap my sight up to study her brown eyes and the way her dark blonde hair forms a trail around her face, hiding the small scar on her forehead.
Shaking my need to soak in the image of her and the fact my chest constricts, I stay firm in my stance and decide to get right to it. Where do we pick up, anyhow? “I met with the lawyer.”
“No shit. Not really news.” Sass? That’s the emotion she’s choosing to give me right now?
But it causes the corner of my mouth to tug slightly from amusement. “I’ve been made executor of Zac’s will.” The document that we were told to wait to open.
It should have been an old game collection he left me or asking me to put money aside for Bo’s college fund. Or he could’ve left me his stocks, but my brother always hadthoughts that he kept to himself. It’s just the logic behind this request that has me muddled, with no clear reasoning in my brain.
Summer stands tall, with her arms crossed around her chest, and with that t-shirt, it causes her breasts to lift, which I notice because I’m apparently an immoral person when it comes to this situation.
Creases form between her brows. “He never shared that with me.”
I nod subtly once and swallow because the start of our rollercoaster of what-the-fuck moments is about to begin. “And also...”
She gawks at me. “Care to elaborate?” Summer has her feisty A-game on today.
“He requested that I move in… with you… for six weeks.”
Her body completely freezes.
She’s shocked, and quite frankly, so am I. This is not the news I imagined I would be delivering today.
A croak escapes Summer’s throat as her mouth cracks open; she seems to be digesting the news.
“No,” she states firmly her delayed response to my bombshell.
“Yes,” I sigh.
“No,” she repeats.
“Yes,” I volley back.
Look at us, already quarrelling. She throws her hands up into the air. “Why the hell would he request that?”
I scan the area and wonder why it is so quiet today at the Dizzy Duck. I should probably take more interest in my tiny investment. My parents sold off the Dizzy Duck under the contingency that a small part was kept in the family. Since Zac had no interest, I kept 10%. Two other hockey guyscompletely took over the place, and I already knew them well enough.
Pinching my nose, I’m reminded that the only route of escape is turning my back on Summer. I mean, maybe jumping on a rowboat could be an option, but that seems kind of extreme. Hesitantly, I take a few steps in her direction to close our distance. Closer is my undoing around her.
“It’s his request,” I recap.
“I’ll contest it,” she says tightly.
I glide my tongue along my inner cheek, doing my best to stay calm. “Really? Of all the things, that’s what you want to waste your time on? You know your desire to honor his wishes will only stop you from picking up the phone to call a lawyer anyhow.”
Summer rolls her eyes while her shoulders drop, knowing damn well I’m right. “Are you going to follow it?”
Scratching the back of my neck, I go over the thoughts I had running through my head on the drive over. Zac was my little brother; I always felt a protective nature over him, but now he has asked me to take care of what he held so precious and close to his heart.
But it’s Summer…
“My hockey career finished a year ago,” I highlight.
I never played for the Spinners, the team that practices here in town, my career mostly took me to Michigan. Not to say I haven’t spent many hours on the ice here in Lake Spark. “Besides, I have a tiny stake in the inn, too.”
She chirps a laugh. “Now you want to take interest in the inn? That’s rich, considering you didn’t seem to have a lot of time for your family before.”
